User blog:WayfinderOwl/BTM: Who Needs Friends (I'm Rich) 6
No Sleep Tonight The afternoon got worse. I was on a yacht with kids who had kidnapped me. Goaded me into insulting the girl I had the hugest crush on. Forced me to choose them over my best friend. Who planned to ditch me the moment I stand up for myself. The yacht drifted along the water inlet, playing classical music. All of the preps were laughing with the tone of condescension, about the peasants of the school locked up in their dorms. I was alone near the rails, two shades of green, thanking all the gods, even the ones I didn’t even believe in, that I hadn’t eaten much since that burger. I’d already vomited twice. I doubted there was much left in me. The whole clique looked at me like I was a smelly half rotten fish that had flopped up on deck. Derby’s father’s yacht was magnificent. No sails. Large and white. Practically a mansion on the water, with two separate decks, and enough rooms for us all to have our own. Pinky came over to me. “Are you alright? Is it some kind of sickness?” she asked. “Na. I’ll be fine. I’ve never been on a boat before.” That kind of reply helped ease my sickness. Derby had the man in charge of steering steer the boat towards the harbor, where I was told to disembark. Suited me, as I stood on the wooden pier, watching them drift away. If not for the concern that a dropout might steal it, Derby probably would have made me row to shore in a lifeboat. There was nowhere to go. The carnival had shut down for the cold season. Not that I would have gone there anyway. I walked back to the dorms, shivering. Huddled over, blowing my warm breath onto my icy cold hands. I heard a voice yell out to me. One of the prefects. Max, I think his name was. The prefects were the kind of boys who didn’t want kids to know who they were, unless said kid was about to receive a beating. “You! All students are on lockdown. Stay where you are!” I stopped in my tracks, under the arch of the main gates. “I know. I’m a prep. I was invited to the yacht party,” I explained. He didn’t care. I knew he didn’t care. “I got seasick, I’m going back to the dorm.” “Enough of your excuses!” Max reached over, grabbing me roughly by the arm. I was dragged all the way to the main building, stumbling behind him. The only warmth in my body, was the acute pain in my arm, from his vice like grip. A bruise in the shape of his hand would mark my arm for nearly a week. He lead me through the foyer, up the stairs to the office, where I was roughly shoved into the green tacky sofa. Beside me was my new nemesis, Gary Smith. “Stay there, both of you,” Max ordered. I stayed on the sofa. Leaning forward. My forearms resting on my legs. My head lowered, pretending to be in shame, but really it allowed me to whisper, without Max or Miss Danvers seeing the movement of my lips. “You told on me, didn’t you, Snitch,” I whispered. “Get over yourself,” Gary whispered back. “I was trying to get some food.” “Then buy a cheese burger,” I countered. “I didn’t want a cheese burger,” Gary informed me. “Whatever, Gary. What you do is your business. Sticking a pin in the fact that I pissed you off, and that you hate me, did you snitch on me?” “Honestly, no. I thought you were still on that yacht, with those preening peacocks. I told the truth. I was getting food.” “Gary, I’ve seen you eat a cheese burger before. Nothing was stopping you from getting one.” “I never said it was for me.” I resisted the temptation to ask him. Other the voices in his head, who would possibly want Gary Smith for a friend? We remained silent under Miss Danvers’ watchful eye. She watched for a few moments. Returned her attention to some paperwork. I counted to five in my head before daring to speak. Gary beat me to it. “Look, I’m prepared to offer a truce, if you do something for me. This is one of those rare times when you are of use to me.” “And, what do I get in return?” “Crabblesnitch is a big nosed idiot. I can make him dance like a puppet any time I like. As well as the truce, I’ll get you out of detention. Hell, I’ll even have him thinking he is being paranoid. Let us off with some crappy little punishment, without input from the prefects.” “Alright, seems fair. What is it you want?” “I know that the rich kids and teachers get decent food. Stuff not cooked by Edna. I want you to go down to the kitchens, use your prep connections.” With his fingers, he air quoted the words ‘prep connections.’ “Get me some bottled water, and something a vegan can eat. You do know what a vegan is, right?” “Yeah, I know,” I told him. “How long does the truce last for?” “Until you fight that superficial idiot.” “What do you care about Justin?” “I have my own reasons. He isn’t far down my shit list after you.” “Good to know.” ^^^^ I have to admit, Gary was awesome. We walked into the office. Gary left him to it. Let the headmaster rant on for a few moments. Then began distracting him with subtle compliments, and suggestions. It partially blew back in his face, as big nose Crabblesnitch told us we would have to work together, to put on the school’s Christmas play this year, for sneaking out during lockdown. I headed down to the kitchens, Edna was nowhere to be seen. Gary waited near the foyer. I walked into the kitchens, through to the store cupboard. It was a small and dirty room. All of the food on the shelves were for the students. The freshness of the food was extremely questionable. I felt sick just looking at it. The walk in fridge was where the good stuff was. I pulled the leaver handle, pulled the heavy door, heaving my whole body as I did so. Cold air flowed out like a mist. There was enough food to make a banquet for the whole school for a week. My quest for food ended in the vegetable storage. I fetched a clear Tupperware container from a shelf. Stole two firm tomatoes. A crunchy piece of celery. Two leaves of lettuce. A carrot. One red apple. The bottles of water were frozen. At least it would be cold for whoever Gary wanted it for. I took one last item from the fridge before closing it. In a separate container, I had a piece of chocolate sponge cake big enough for two. Gary was waiting for me, with a backpack. “Where did that come from?” I asked, sure he didn’t have it before. “Does it matter?” asked Gary. “No, not really.” I slipped the bottle of frozen water and the Tupperware of vegetables into the backpack. We parted ways. Me returning to the dorms, him going off to do whatever he planned to do with the food. Eat it, sacrifice it to his own ego, whatever. Pete was still in the dorm, practicing liar’s dice on the shelf panels I had laid out. How he could play the game alone I will never know. I leaned against the frame of the door. “Hey, Pete,” I said. Pete turned his head, as I he hadn’t heard a word I had said. He was angry, and I don’t blame him. Silently, I set the container down on the boards. Pete looked at it hungrily. He hungered for cake just like the rest of us. A luxury the kids of Bullworth were forced to live without. “From the prep party?” asked Pete. “Nope,” I relied. “Where?” “The good fridge in the caf.” A slice of the cake de-frosted his icy mood. I had to admit, it was pretty good. Rich thick chocolate, and crumbly cake. A bit sickly after a mouthful or two, but it washed down nicely with beam cola. All of the stuff my parents had sent me were put in the box, and placed on the shelves I had to put back. I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Thinking about the fight in the morning. The more I thought about it, the more I started to doubt myself. Fighting wasn’t exactly my forte. I had gotten into a couple of scraps when we lived in Northwood, but nothing serious. Justin had years of boxing training. “Pete, has anyone fought like this before? In Glass Jaw with The Hole rules?” “Sometimes. Depends. I heard that last year, two Greasers fought over a girl. The fight was in the junkyard. Sometimes kids in the audience bring weapons to throw to their favorite.” “So, basically, I’m screwed,” I said, bluntly. “Maybe not,” Pete replied. He stretched out on his own bed, head resting on the pillow. “Justin is hardly popular. I mean, yeah, the preps get attention from girls and kids jealous of their wealth, but no one really likes them. I think you have a pretty good chance of winning.” Pete’s words were meant to comfort me, but it had a different effect. Only served to worry me more. ^^^^ Night fell over the academy. I tossed and turned for hours, having the same nightmare over and over. Justin was had grown to eight foot tall over night. The crowd were all faceless shadows. All of them screaming for my blood. Justin ripped me to pieces like paper, and threw me to the blood thirsty crowd. I woke up, covered in sweat, frantically searching for anything that proved I was awake. All I could hear were the sounds of Pete’s snoring. Sleep proved to be pointless. I was never going to rest. Surrendering, I left the dorm. On the sofa of the common room was a good looking guy with brown hair. Dark blue eyes, with dark rings under them. He offered me a nod, as I sat on the other end of the sofa. He wore dark blue pajamas. I was sure I had seen him a couple of times sneaking out of the boiler room. “Can’t sleep?” he asked. “No,” I replied. “You?” “I’m an insomniac.” “That’s rough. Josh.” “Ivan.” “Anything good on?” “Nah.” Talking to Ivan was easy. Required no brain cells. Simple short answers, with no real purpose at all. Trivial at best. I needed that. Conversations with Pete were always deep. He couldn’t help it. Pete was a pretty deep kid. In a lot of ways, so was I. I’m not saying Ivan and I would be best friends, or even friends for that matter, but on the eve of the big fight with Justin, small talk with Ivan was what I needed. Category:Blog posts Category:WayfinderOwl's Fanfiction